Hull City Vs Chelsea, Tue 2 Feb 2010

Hull manager Phil Brown will ponder a full debut for on-loan striker Amr Zaki ahead of his side's clash with Chelsea at the KC Stadium.

Zaki came off the bench in the 2-2 draw with Wolves and impressed but Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Jozy Altidore and Craig Fagan are all vying for places in attack.

Jimmy Bullard is still three to four weeks short of match fitness with his knee injury and Seyi Olofinjana has yet to return from the African Nations Cup but Kamil Zayatte (ankle) could be back in contention, as could Geovanni (knee).

City face title-chasing Chelsea, with the spotlight once again expected to be trained on John Terry.

Terry has been the subject of tabloid reports into his private life, while his captaincy of the England side is said to be under consideration by Fabio Capello.

He brushed all that aside to score Chelsea's winner against Burnley on Saturday and Horton went on record with his respect for the defender's on-field qualities.

"He's a good player and a good captain and we're all crying out for good captains," said Horton.

"He's very experienced and is a top, top player.

"That's all I want to talk about with John Terry. I have nothing but respect for John as a player and a captain. It is nothing to do with me or Hull City, John's private life."

Premier League leaders Chelsea expect to welcome back Ivory Coast strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou for the trip.

The duo have returned from the African Nations Cup, but were not considered for the match at Burnley on Saturday.

Midfielder Michael Essien is out with a knee injury along, while Juliano Belletti (calf) is also sidelined.

Frank Lampard believes the return of the strike duo will boost Chelsea's belief.

"Now we can bring Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou back in. When they were away people outside the club spoke about us struggling, we never believed that," he said.

"They are two great players who are big additions to the squad. We have done very well and now we will be even stronger hopefully."

Lampard added: "We are fighting against top teams who keep getting results and it is down to us to keep winning.

"The good thing about being a little clear at the top is you can concentrate on yourself and not look over your shoulder too much."

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